Steve Wariner Granted Restraining Order Against Stalker of 24 Years

Twenty four years after Steve Wariner first met Linda Marie Shinn, the country singer has been granted a temporary restraining order to keep her away from him and his family. News of the slowly-escalating stalking came to light after Tuesday's (July 30) ruling in Houston, Texas.

According to a copy of the lawsuit obtained by the Courthouse News Service, Shinn first met the 'Holes in the Floor of Heaven' singer at a meet and greet in 1989. She said her son had terminal cancer, a statement that later proved to be a lie. However, it was several years before Wariner and his team realized that she was less than truthful. He banned her from gaining backstage access at that point, but she still managed to get to him from time to time.

From there, the singer says Shinn began mailing him dozens of letters, asking for money. He sent her a cease and desist letter, but that was ignored.

"Over the next 20 years, defendant continued contacting plaintiffs on numerous occasions by showing up at meet and greets, calling venues where Steve Wariner was performing, calling into radio interviews when plaintiff was being interviewed, contacting plaintiff's employees, booking agents and family," the lawsuit states.

The fan would continue telling lies or using deceptive techniques to grab Wariner's attention. Once during a cruise ship performance, according to the lawsuit, she phoned the crew, saying she was a family member and it was an emergency. Wariner was performing in the middle of the Caribbean when he learned it was only Shinn, calling to say her son had an abscessed tooth.

With the invention of social media, Shinn's claims only escalated. Finally last spring, she said she would appear at a show in Nashville and if she didn't see Wariner, he "would know what will happen and that he would not like it." According to the Houston Chronicle, Shinn was arrested on harassment charges on May 20, 2012 at the Nashville International Airport.

Despite an order to not have an contact with Wariner through social media or otherwise, Shinn posted several times on her Facebook and MySpace pages. She's also said she and Wariner "do it all the time spiritually" and that she communicates with Wariner's dead mother. The guitar great calls these claims "absurd and frightening." After learning she could have purchased tickets to upcoming shows, he requested the restraining order, which Harris County court records show was granted this week.

Wariner's music was a staple of country radio throughout the '80s and '90s. 'Holes in the Floor of Heaven' was his biggest hit, but he topped the charts 10 times. On Sept. 10 he'll release a new album called 'It Ain't All Bad.'